


Purple Circle

by calico_fiction



Series: little cuts [23]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Coming Out, Costumes, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship kisses, Gen, Intersex Jotunn (Marvel), Intersex Loki (Marvel), Kissing, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Pride, Pride Parades
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-07 11:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19208788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calico_fiction/pseuds/calico_fiction
Summary: The Avengers have a float in the NYC Pride Parade.





	Purple Circle

**Author's Note:**

> Rated for **language** and non-graphic but potentially upsetting **references to infantile gender assignment surgery**. Loki's personal feelings and struggles with his identities are not meant to be representative.
> 
> See end notes for an index of identities and costumes.

It's Steve who has the idea. It's just turned June and some asshole on TV is talking about 'American Values' this and 'Wholesome Lifestyle' that and tossing the Captain America title around like the three of them (except he probably means just Steve, judging by the rest of what he's spouting) are his best friends, and Steve tells the Compound at large, "I should come out."

"You haven't already?" Bucky asks incredulously from around a huge mouthful of strawberry ice cream, the kind with big chunks of real strawberry.

"You would know about it if I had, Buck." From his other side, Sam gives Bucky's full mouth a distasteful look, but that doesn't stop him from taking the used spoon out of Bucky's hand and using it for himself.

"I been on a nice African beach hangin' out with some goats," Bucky says. "I don't know shit." He lets 'and thank God too' go unspoken, knowing it can be heard plain in his tone, and instead begins the struggle to wrestle his spoon back from Sam without spilling his ice cream.

"I wanna come out," Steve repeats, glaring at the screen.

"Alright." Sam concedes to Steve but not to Bucky, holding the spoon above his head and leaning way back across the couch with one foot on the ground to brace himself and the other, shoe and all, planted in Bucky's gut to keep him back. He's not even trying to get any ice cream at this point, he's just being a dick. "Let's come out. Now change the damn channel, I don't wanna hear that."

It's just that, to start. The three Captain Americas, coming out, together. But Steve wants it to be big. As big as possible. Big and loud and primed for rubbing in faces. A press conference or an interview just doesn't seem to have the panache.

"What do you want?" Tony teases eventually. "A parade?"

"Well, they do those now, right?" Steve points out in a deceptively reasonable tone. "Can we be in one?" Tony laughs, foolishly, before realizing that Steve is serious.

"Oh," he says, and makes a few calls.

Peter is the next to get on board. The very second he hears that the Caps and Iron Man are going to be on a Pride float he asks Tony if he can please be on it too please please please.

"You're too old to still be pestering me," Tony grouches at him, even as he's pulling up the latest spider suit design and taking all the colors a few shades lighter.

Gradually the others join in too, with varying degrees of enthusiasm (or at least with varying degrees of _visible_ enthusiasm). Wanda gets matching 'Binaries Are For Computers' t-shirts for herself and Vision.

"It's funny," Vision explains patiently, though no one asked, "because I am far more advanced than a 'computer' and so are biological organisms."

Natasha quietly starts wearing delicate corded bracelets in vibrant gradients; one from green to white to black, one from purple. Her old arrow necklace makes a comeback too, and Clint gets all sappy and gives her a hug and a kiss on the temple every time he sees her with all her flare on. He opts out of the float, reminding everyone that he is re-retired, and that he'll be chaperoning some queer kids from his archery camp.

"I know I am also no longer an Avenger..." Thor booms gently after cornering Tony while he attempts to make pancakes (another breakfast failure).

"Once an Avenger, always an Avenger," Tony allows easily, though it's still strange to him to be so much more in charge now than before. "Of course you can come. Show your colors. Do you have colors? Loki can come too."

"I will find the appropriate colors before the event," Thor says. He tilts his head. "Is Loki an Avenger?"

"Well, by the Hawkeye Field Standard he is," Tony answers with a dynamic shrug. "And Barton's batting three and oh for conversions, so who am I to argue with that. Loki have colors? Get Loki some colors."

Of course, Thor had planned to find and then obtain Loki's colors regardless of his brother's Avenging status. Relearning the sibling he knew and discovering the sibling he did not has been... arduous, for them both. Thor never knew the shame and loathing that Loki toiled under, just as Loki never knew Thor's (though Thor, in his own opinion, had less to carry). Over this past year or so since the destruction of Old Asgard and Thor's ascension to the Throne, the two of them have given each other pieces of themselves one by one. Pertaining to this, Thor gave Loki the story of the sleepless night he shared with Volstagg and his wife. And Thor has always known Loki to sometimes be his brother and sometimes his sister (and to care not for the gender of others as either), but now Loki has also given him the knowledge that Jotnar children are born both.

FRIDAY tells Thor the words he is looking for, and Thor finds the colors.

Thor tells Loki first of Tony's invitation, onto the float and onto the team. Loki responds in the affirmative to both with equal feigned disinterest. This lets Thor know what size to get.

"I have a present for you," Thor sings days later when his purchases have arrived.

"For me?" Loki responds in perfect monotone without so much as glancing up from the book he is flipping through at the shiny metallic bar in the kitchen of their shared private apartments in the Compound. Despite his attitude, Loki reaches for the package Thor sets down beside him immediately and tears open the black plastic with relish. Out spills a glossy six foot flag, almost entirely bright yellow but for the vivid purple circle in the center.

"Ugh," Loki sneers. "It's _hideous_."

"My opinion on the matter is irrelevant!" Thor proclaims cheerfully, but the tilt of his grin says he agrees. Loki snorts. He pulls the shiny fabric through his fingers smoothly.

"What is it?" he asks, but he doesn't look up when he does so Thor thinks he has some idea.

"It's a pride flag," he says simply. "It's for intersex people to express resilience and love of themselves."

"Intersex," Loki repeats, his voice low and sibilant, like a secret, like when he told Thor about this in the first place.

"There are other words and flags that apply to you, of course," Thor says. They both know that perfectly well.

"But you chose to give me this one." It's just a statement, not a question, but still Thor knows what Loki is asking. Of course Thor chose this; chose to give this piece back, as a gift. He nods.

"You know, technically," Loki tells his flag, "I'm not actually intersex, not for a Jotunn."

"Technically," Thor counters pragmatically, "sex and gender are social constructs, and as you have lived only in societies with a sexual binary you have lived the life of an intersex person." Loki laughs shortly and at last looks up.

"How deep, brother. Finally doing your own homework?" he quips.

"Fiend!" Thor yelps. "I did more homework than you did when we were schoolchildren and you know it!"

Later that night, over dinner and wine, Thor realizes a possible misstep and begins to clarify, "I cannot tell you what words to use-"

"Thank you for the gift," Loki interrupts. "It's lovely."

Finally, the day arrives. They all stand around in the Compound for an hour, far too early in the morning, passing around snacks and admiring each other's costumes before they cover up to make it from here to their big reveal. Loki holds two corners of his intersex flag at his shoulders and melds it there, altering the material so that it is a flowing cape that fits well with his otherwise normal Æsir outfit. Steve is wearing an extra tight and incredibly sparkly version of the original Captain America monkey suit.

"Inspired by that Dodgers costume Elton John did," he explains. "He could still get it."

"Please don't use contemporary slang," Tony begs at the exact same time that Peter says, emphatically, " _Mood_." Tony closes his eyes and sighs for a very long time.

They don't all travel together, opting for the easier and less conspicuous method of arriving separately. It's not exactly a surprise that they will appear in the parade, Tony and Pepper have both posted coy hints to their Twitters, as has Peter on his special Spiderman account, but it hasn't been officially announced in deference to Steve's original intention to make a dramatic statement. It may or may not be a surprise for Loki to be appearing with them outside of battle, though.

"Much needed PR, Green Ranger," Tony tells Loki as they are all making their ways to their various modes of transportation. He claps Loki on the shoulder as he passes, heading toward the car where Happy and Pepper are waiting for him. It is not greatly reassuring.

Loki casts an illusion over the two of them to make their clothing appear more Midgardian in style and then he and Thor take the subway downtown. They are still recognized of course, they are both very famous. Most give them a wide berth, whispering behind their hands and unsubtly snapping photos. Now that Loki is more recognizable, Thor gets approached much less when they are together. Loki himself as been approached only by people no older than Peter, and even then rarely and with vociferous discouragement from their elders, though that suits him fine most of the time. Thus, the brothers come to their stop unmolested. They disembark and make their way to their friends and their covered float.

"Get in, losers," Bucky greets them with a jaunty wink. "We're coming out." Thor laughs happily and Loki quirks a lopsided smile as he dismisses the illusion and allows their true clothes to show. Thor bounds up onto the float in one effortless leap.

Far ahead, the first float turns round the corner onto the parade route and the jubilant roar of the crowd seems to shake the earth and sky. Thor laughs again, of course feeling welcomed and bolstered by such thunderousness but Loki, still on the street, goes a little paler.

"Will they all know what this means?" he wonders, referring to his pride cape. To those who don't know him quite as well it sounds like an idle curiosity, but Thor knows him very well.

"Statistically, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that approximately one point seven percent of them will be wearing it," Vision answers promptly.

"Ah," says Loki faintly, and his clothing shifts again, plain charcoal spilling down his back like ink until the yellow and purple flag is a lining rather than the entirety of his cape. He twists nervous fingers into the sides and holds it close to him, the colorful inside completely obscured by his body. Thor's heart cracks for him and he helplessly rages at their parents, at the very tenants Old Asgard was built upon, at Earth, at the (relative) ease of his own gender, but he doesn't know what - if anything - to say.

"I suppose I will remain with the spectators, then," Loki mutters, bitter but resigned. Thor shakes his head vigorously and takes a step forward with a hand held out in invitation, but he's beaten to speaking.

"You're here and you're queer, kiddo," Tony says. "You belong up here if that's where you wanna be." After a moment of indecision Loki, silent and still pale, levitates elegantly onto the float beside Tony with a soft green glow. Thor recognizes the look of determined defiance in his eyes. Foolish of him to worry that Loki could be kept down for long.

Soon enough their float begins to move, and rounds the corner. There is the briefest of lulls in the noise as the shock that Steve was looking for occurs, and then the loudest cheer yet. Millions of New Yorkers scream themselves hoarse to express their feelings of support and of being supported. The Caps are all three eating it up like it's a four coarse meal of nothing but desserts. Sam does flips and takes extravagant bows, Bucky winks and blows kisses and flexes his metal arm, and Steve has pulled a flagpole from who knows where and his rigorously waving a pansexual flag that is twice his size. Spiderman is also doing flips, but pauses every now and then to T-pose and show off the fact that the gliders underneath his arms are in the bisexual colors. Barely a quarter through the route, Steve pulls Tony into a deep kiss, leaving him speechless, and then proceeds to also kiss Bucky, Sam, Vision, and Natasha. Along every slow meter almost all of them can hear their names called out from the sidelines.

Loki stands, quiet but content, between Thor and Tony. He waves occasionally, when people visibly point him out. He accepts a peck on the cheek from Steve, and smirks at the reactions that garners. Just past the halfway mark, he's given more direct attention.

"Loki!" a child shrieks in glee, ducking underneath the parade tape toward their float, pointing up at him, dressed in a homemade costume of him with little horns on a headband and a cape and a tulle skirt.

"Are they a boy or a girl?" Tony asks as the child's parent chases after them and the parade slows in deference to the unexpected new pedestrians.

"What a patently ridiculous question to ask, and here of all places," Loki answers coolly.

"You're absolutely right," Tony agrees. "That's my bad."

"Loki!" the child calls again, seeking his attention now rather than simply exalting upon his presence.

"Hello," Loki says, crouching down. He's not sure what else to say, his silver tongue failing him as it so rarely does.

"Do you have a flag?" the child asks him. They seem so eager and earnest, like they would be thrilled at absolutely any answer Loki could give them. His eyes are drawn almost magnetically to their parent, walking just a step behind them. They look protective, and terrified, and proud, and helpless, and Loki has never before met any human who reminded him more of his mother. He wants to make it easier on them, both of them, if he can. He doesn't know if he can.

Loki stands when he feels Thor's presence at his own shoulder. He glances back at his brother, who smiles at him.

"It's up to you," Thor rumbles, low enough that no one else can hear over the noise of pure numbers. Loki looks back at the child, at their ambiguous gender presentation, the way they clearly idolize him, the way their parent's hands shake almost imperceptibly as they wait for him to respond.

"I do," he finally answers. His own hands shake a little too as he pulls his cape out to one side, revealing the bright yellow lining and the bold purple circle in the center. The child gasps theatrically and bounds even closer to the float, bringing it and the procession behind it to a full halt.

"That's me too!" they announce, tilting their head to show Loki their earrings, one little yellow sphere and one purple in each lobe. Again Loki isn't sure what to say, so instead he shifts his ears to have matching piercings with matching jewelry, to the child's breathless delight. He feels a spike of anxiety when he realizes their parent has gotten teary.

"My ex-wife said I made the wrong decision," they admit tremulously, and Loki's nerves instantly turn to fury. (He hadn't known, at the beginning of the month, when Thor gave him his gift, what humans did to their babies. He may have suffered as a child for knowing himself different and not knowing why, but he was made ill at the thought of being cut up into a shape more orthodox for an Ás.) Thor's hand lands heavily on his shoulder, forcibly grounding him.

"That was a cruel falsehood to burden you with," he says instead of demanding the woman's name and address. His words are stiff and formal from the unfamiliarity of restraining himself, but this parent seems to understand his intent easily.

"Thank you," they say, and it's for more than just his reassurance. They lay a hand on their child's shoulder. "Say thank you and goodbye to Loki, sweetheart. We have to let the Avengers finish the parade."

"Thank you and goodbye, Loki," the child repeats dutifully, and Loki smiles. Out of thin air he creates a small plush of himself, complete with yellow and purple earrings and pride cape, and hands it over.

"Thank _you_ ," he says, "and goodbye." He turns to watch the pair rejoin the crowd as the parade starts again.

At the end of the route, the Avengers are beset upon by a swarming frenzy of press. There are shouts about if they are all gay or not, if any of them are dating, if they're worried about their future popularity, and on and on.

"It's funny," they can hear Vision patiently explain in the near distance, to a reporter who may or may not have asked.

"Captain America!" someone demands, and then stutters briefly when all three Captain Americas turn. "Is Loki an Avenger now?"

"Yes, he is," Steve answers firmly, his eyes as challenging as they ever are. "But that's not what today is about. We will only be answering questions about gay and trans rights."

"So, shwarma after?" Tony asks, seemingly without concern for if any of them hear him or not. Loki rolls his eyes, but Thor can see in the color in his cheeks and the curve of his mouth how pleased he is.

They end up at the same place as last time, and the owners greet them all with smiles.

Even Loki.

**Author's Note:**

> Steve: pansexual and wearing a sparkly OG cap costume, waving his flag
> 
> Bucky: [not described] gay and wearing the Bucky Cap costume with rainbows instead of rw&b and a Magen David instead of the star
> 
> Sam: [not described] bisexual and wearing the Falcon Cap costume with bi colors instead of rw&b
> 
> Tony: [not described] queer and wearing rainbow Iron Man gauntlets, pink heart shaped sunglasses, and a rainbow feather boa
> 
> Peter: trans and bisexual and wearing a Spiderman suit that is pink and light blue. the parts that are usually gold are pearlescent, and the gliders underneath his arms are striped with the bi colors.
> 
> Wanda: nonbinary and wearing a 'Binaries Are For Computers' t-shirt
> 
> Vision: nonbinary and wearing a 'Binaries Are For Computers' t-shirt
> 
> Natasha: aromantic and asexual and wearing cord bracelets in those pride colors. she is also in a queer platonic partnership with Clint.
> 
> Thor: [not described] bisexual and wearing his Thor costume, waving his flag
> 
> Loki: genderfluid, pansexual, and intersex and wearing the intersex pride flag as a cape and earrings in the intersex colors.
> 
> Come chill with me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/penlex)!


End file.
